Who mostly uses hand sanitiser while onboard???

[bazzaw]

I think that this high school experiment was interesting and confirms to me why it should be banned ! https://www.foxnews.com/health/idaho-school-science-experiment-hand-washing-moldy-bread

 

[ELep]

I am to wash frequently with soap and water, including as entering the buffet,  then usually use a little hand sanitiser after getting my food (I have had to touch the tongs etc)  and before I commence eating. Particularly if I am going to eat something that requires my hands to touch the food, like a burger or bread roll. I try to mostly eat items that can be eaten with cutlery and aim to avoid touching my face etc with hands on a trip. Also try to avoid using hand rails or fingers on lift buttons etc. This is not always possible of course.

Seems to me that frequent hand washing, along with thinking about where your hands have been, followed with some sanitiser as a back up is the way to go. It's not a fool proof method of course....

[Docker123]

The best defence is thorough hand washing with soap and water.

 

If possible, use paper towels to dry your hands (onboard or on land).  The abrasion helps kill the nasties. Hot air dryers can spread bacteria rather than remove.

 

Hand sanitisers provide a reasonable back up. But it depends on the % of alcohol in them, and how well they are used. More effective on bacteria than viruses (e.g., Noro).

 

If nothing else available, use the sanitiser.

 

[MicCanberra]

When cruising, I use the hand sanitisers all the time but I also wash my hands all the time, not just when I have used the toilet.

[MicCanberra]

'Wash your hands'  was something we were taught before even school, very important to wash hands after using the bathroom and especially before eating.

[lissie]

I don't see why it should be banned its better than nothing. I won't use antibacterial products though - they should be banned - the alcohol one is better than nothing. 

[Cruisebugg]

As others do, I wash my hands regularly with soap and water and also use the hand sanitisers available, as well as my own, at times. 

I know it has been discussed before, but I still get amazed that due to the incidence of norovirus etc onboard ships, why food is not served by the crew, at all times... I have seen many people avoid using the hand sanitiser in the buffet areas and then proceed to serve themselves food, potentially risking the health of other passengers.  Inevitably, people start getting sick at some point on the cruise and THEN the staff start serving the food.  🤷‍♂️

[OzKiwiJJ]

We use sanitisers in addition to frequent handwashing. Although we do use the ship's sanitiser sometimes we also carry a foam sanitiser which we use in situations where we feel we need extra sanitising ie after handling serving implements in the buffet, handling menus in tbe MDR, etc.

[lyndarra]

I have never carried personal sanitizers and only use the ship dispensers provided when entering dining areas. Yes, soap and water hand washing beats sanitizer. On a two week tour of Mexico, with a group of 26 fellow Aussies, more than half fell victim to Montezuma's Revenge and many of them were using hand sanitizer. My wife and I just used the soap and water hand washing regime as we do at home and had no problem. We then did a 16 day tour of India with a similar size group and fewer were using sanitizer than the Mexico group yet only two went down with Dehli Belly.

On my recent MSC 20 day cruise there was no crew overseeing of the use of sanitizers on entering dining areas and often the dispensers wouldn't work properly. No Noro outbreak (about 4000 pax).

 

[Sillysim]

I always remember a very old tv ad when cruising " Wash your hands Jeffrey".  I wonder if you can still buy Solvol soap?

 

Anyway I'm a hand washer, too much my husband says. Better wrinkled hands than get sick.

[Bubbeh]

3 minutes ago, Sillysim said:

I always remember a very old tv ad when cruising " Wash your hands Jeffrey".  I wonder if you can still buy Solvol soap?

Yes you still can, both as a bar and in a pump pack liquid version.

[Bubbeh]

Like everybody else, I wash frequently and avoid touching too many shared surfaces with my fingers tips eg, in the lift I use my knuckle and when exiting the toilet area I use a piece of paper to open the door and turn off the tap. 

 

Unfortunately, I find that after a few days hand sanitiser gives me dermatitis which can be very unpleasant not to mention unsightly.  I've learned over time to use barrier cream shortly before the hand sanitiser as this protects my hands while still complying with the health regulation.  For anybody else that might have the same issue, I find good old fashioned Faulding's barrier cream to be the best.

[lyndarra]

3 minutes ago, Bubbeh said:

Yes you still can, both as a bar and in a pump pack liquid version.

"Get busy hands, (clap, clap, clap)

Clean as a whistle, (tweet?)

With Solvol"

I use it in my garage. It has a nice, gritty feel.

[Bubbeh]

4 minutes ago, lyndarra said:

Get busy hands, (clap, clap, clap)

Clean as a whistle, (tweet?)

With Solvol"

I use it in my garage. It has a nice, gritty feel.

We still do the old, 'wash your hands Jeffrey, with the Solvol Jeffrey'!  LOL!  

[OzKiwiJJ]

17 minutes ago, Bubbeh said:

Like everybody else, I wash frequently and avoid touching too many shared surfaces with my fingers tips eg, in the lift I use my knuckle and when exiting the toilet area I use a piece of paper to open the door and turn off the tap. 

 

Unfortunately, I find that after a few days hand sanitiser gives me dermatitis which can be very unpleasant not to mention unsightly.  I've learned over time to use barrier cream shortly before the hand sanitiser as this protects my hands while still complying with the health regulation.  For anybody else that might have the same issue, I find good old fashioned Faulding's barrier cream to be the best.

Bubbah, have you tried Hands First sanitiser? https://www.handsfirst.com.au/

 

We carry several of the small pump bottles on cruises, and also use it in day-to-day life. We buy bulk packs of the liquid and refill the pump bottles from that,

[MicCanberra]

2 hours ago, Cruisebugg said:

As others do, I wash my hands regularly with soap and water and also use the hand sanitisers available, as well as my own, at times. 

I know it has been discussed before, but I still get amazed that due to the incidence of norovirus etc onboard ships, why food is not served by the crew, at all times... I have seen many people avoid using the hand sanitiser in the buffet areas and then proceed to serve themselves food, potentially risking the health of other passengers.  Inevitably, people start getting sick at some point on the cruise and THEN the staff start serving the food.  🤷‍♂️

Some cruise lines (P&O) have servers in the buffet all the time, their incidence of Noro is negligible compared to others like Princess.

[possum52]

We both wash our hands very regularly and use the sanitiser. I liked that on the Golden Princess, prior to entering the self serving area of the Horizon Court, that there are basins, usually with a staff member enforcing hand washing. I was amazed though at the number of passengers who tried to sneak past and also didn't use the hand sanitiser.

 

Leigh

 

[Russell21]

1 hour ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Bubbah, have you tried Hands First sanitiser? https://www.handsfirst.com.au/

 

We carry several of the small pump bottles on cruises, and also use it in day-to-day life. We buy bulk packs of the liquid and refill the pump bottles from that,

This is what we use. I found on my first cruise, and because I forgot to pack it last cruise, that the ships sanitiser, which is alcohol based, dries out, and makes me shed, the skin on my hands.

It's almost cleared up now and we returned 4 weeks ago tomorrow.

[plettza]

On a Science Hour with Dr Karl episode (on Triple J) some time ago, Dr  Karl said the alcohol-based hand sanitisers are practically useless [I'm paraphrasing here], at least for cruise ship type viruses.  Viruses such as noro, gastro, etc. have cellular walls which alcohol hand sanitisers simply don't break down and therefore, don't kill the bug.  Soap and water is the best as the soap has fats which do indeed break down the virus' walls and are more effective.

 

I presume the reason they use the alcohol-based sanitisers is that they dry as the alcohol evaporates.

 

In any case, when entering the buffet, I give my hands a quick squirt.  But I do see people simply walk past the sanitiser.  And yes, if it is indeed ineffectual, why would someone bother?  However, it sort of reminds me of the Seinfeld episode ("The Pie" if I remember) where Seinfeld goes to the Italian restaurant and the owner, Poppie, uses the toilet but fails to wash his hands.

Edited December 19, 2019 by plettza

[SinbadThePorter]

The restaurant sanitary measures vary so much from ship to ship.

 

Just recently on the Ruby Princess they were basically non-existent. Earlier this year on Sea Princess they were pervasive.

 

I don't believe the hand sanitiser does anything useful, although I always go with the flow and use it anyway. But I recommend always washing hands before eating no matter where you are. Especially if someone is going to eat in the same establishment as me. 😷

[GUT2407]

7 hours ago, Sillysim said:

I always remember a very old tv ad when cruising " Wash your hands Jeffrey".  I wonder if you can still buy Solvol soap?

 

Anyway I'm a hand washer, too much my husband says. Better wrinkled hands than get sick.

Yes you can. Hated that add.

[GUT2407]

5 hours ago, possum52 said:

We both wash our hands very regularly and use the sanitiser. I liked that on the Golden Princess, prior to entering the self serving area of the Horizon Court, that there are basins, usually with a staff member enforcing hand washing. I was amazed though at the number of passengers who tried to sneak past and also didn't use the hand sanitiser.

 

Leigh

 

But on Majestic last week I couldn’t get close enough to the basins to use them in the wheelchair, so for me it was wash repeatedly (as I normally do) at the nearest accessible bathroom and then use sanitiser, belt and braces. 

[GUT2407]

Never been sick onboard, but then in spite of multiple autoimmune diseases I have a robust immune system.

[possum52]

2 hours ago, GUT2407 said:

But on Majestic last week I couldn’t get close enough to the basins to use them in the wheelchair, so for me it was wash repeatedly (as I normally do) at the nearest accessible bathroom and then use sanitiser, belt and braces. 

I hadn't thought about the wheel chair bound passengers. I did see many with walkers using the basins but can't recall anyone in a wheel chair.

 

Leigh

[Adventures ahead]

Hospitals are peppered with hand sanitizer dispensers. Makes sense that they're there to augment hand washing, not replace it. If they didn't have some value, I doubt that hospitals would bother spend money on them. Not meant to be 'mostly' used by anyone, anywhere.

Edited December 19, 2019 by Adventures ahead